


Fall Out

by ladyoneill



Series: Shadows Of The Moon: Full Moon Ficlets [68]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Killing, M/M, Teenagers, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 11:01:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2107365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyoneill/pseuds/ladyoneill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first battle of the war is over and the two eldest daughters of Peter and Stiles have very different reactions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fall Out

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the fullmoon ficlet prompt "stain" and I went there (MacBeth). This is set post-battle. No Packmates (wolf or human) died.
> 
> I've added Kira (and Liam though no reference yet) to the McCall Pack. There's no Malia in this AU as she's problematic. I haven't decided if Kira's Scott's mate or not.
> 
> Also, I'm sure the idea of a Left Hand has been used by more authors, but I admit my version is influenced by KouriArashi's in "Divided We Stand" and "United We Mend". Also written for Hurt/comfort bingo prompt: combat.

The howl sends shivers through both of them, but Peter's on his feet first, shaking his head at Stiles to stay put. Pounding down the stairs, he bursts into the cubs' bathroom just as the sorrow-filled sound dies away. It's replaced by quiet sobs and he turns on the light and reaches into the shower to turn off the very hot water.

Naked and shivering despite the steam and heat, Lily's curled on the title floor. Her hands move restlessly over her body, scrubbing and scraping, leaving marks that quickly fade.

It brings back a memory, the first time he fought off a hunter trying to kill him, how he clawed at the man's face and neck in desperation, the blood that spurted from the wounds, coating them both, getting in his mouth. After the man staggered away, Peter threw up in the bushes, and, once home, spent hours in the shower, scrubbing at bloodstains only he could see and shaking like Lily's doing now.

Heart sinking, Peter grabs a towel before crouching down and wrapping her in it. Her hands still and she goes limp. Regardless of the dampness seeping from her skin into his clothes, he sweeps her into his arms and carries her up to the rooms he shares with his mate.

As soon as they enter the bedroom, Stiles stops pacing and goes to pull down the blankets on the bed. When Peter places Lily there, she immediately curls into a ball, still shaking, her hands wrapping around her head, her knees pulling to her chest.

Covering her up, Stiles sits next to her and strokes her shoulder. "Lily? Sweetie, please calm down and talk to us."

When she doesn't he turns disturbed eyes on the Alpha. "We shouldn't have let her fight."

"It's her right." But, Peter's obviously bothered and worried by her reaction to the recently ended battle, and Stiles just nods and continues stroking their eldest daughter until she drifts to sleep. When he's sure she won't awaken immediately, he rises and goes into Peter's arms, letting him guide him back into his study, where Peter takes his seat behind his desk and Stiles his usual one across from him. Between them on the scuffed surface are spread maps and incident reports and battle plans.

Stiles swallows hard and, unable to sit still, reaches for the list of kills.

No wolves or Pack mates, although many sustained wounds. His own shoulder aches from being nearly dislocated, and he's running on fumes. He and Peter were the last to leave the once serene clearing deep in the forest, only an hour ago, but the battle itself took nearly two before the remaining hunters broke and ran, leaving bodies and the scent of aconite and gunpowder mingled with body waste and too much blood. This wasn't just a skirmish.

It was the start of war.

The list, in Derek's neat handwriting, shows him nine hunters confirmed dead and at least sixteen wounded, a few possibly fatally. They were attacked by at nearly sixty men and women.

Just the start.

Gods, how are they going to survive this with their minds and bodies intact. He's already afraid they've broken their eldest cub. Lily's too sensitive, too caring. She should never have to fight.

Desperation spills from his lips. "I don't want her out there again."

Peter's response surprises Stiles. "I don't either." He rubs a finger over his lower lip, one of his few tells. "I never wanted..." Their eyes meet, both full of pain over the loss of innocence suffered today. 

"I was only a few years older than her when I killed that first hunter, and what did I do next? Admitted I was in love with you. I...just wiped it out of my mind. His death meant nothing to me. It didn't affect me. Those a month ago, today mean nothing. I justify killing without a worry. What does that say about me?"

Frowning at his mate's concern, Peter shakes his head. "Stiles, we all deal with things like this differently, and it's not because you were a few years older or that you're a male and she's a female. You've seen how deadly Allison can be. Do you think the deaths she causes bother her for long if at all?"

According to the list, the huntress killed two today. Stiles had seen her on the edge of the battlefield, her eyes cold and calculating as she shot arrow after arrow, not worrying if they were killing shots or not. On the other hand, Isaac left all those who came too close to his mate wounded but alive. 

Stiles killed one hunter himself with magic and the sword Kira taught him to use to replace the baseball bat of more innocent days.

"I think we may kind of be sociopaths," he replies mirthlessly.

"No, you're not, or you wouldn't be torn up about Lily. You wouldn't love me. Stiles, we've known for years that Lily has neither the temperament to be an Alpha or a Left Hand but we all have it in our natures to kill if it's necessary."

"I never wanted that for any of my cubs."

"I didn't either," Peter replies honestly. 

Sighing and rubbing a tired hand over his face, Stiles slumps in his seat. "Six weeks ago her biggest concern was the PSATs and if some boy liked her. Sixteen is too young, Peter."

"How old were you when you got involved in all of this."

"...Okay, point, but all that does is make me either a hypocrite or someone who wants something better for his daughter. I'm going with the latter. I don't want her out there again. Her wolf is of age. Her heart and mind are still a kid's."

"And how do we stop her, Stiles? Even as her Alpha I have no right to keep her from fighting alongside her Pack. It's an instinct none of us can ignore. I can't just order her to stay home, and you already argued with her to stay out of it and she gave you a very good argument back as to why she couldn't."

"I don't want her to get hard! I don't want her to become like Allison at that age. She scared the shit out of me, Peter, more than you did even."

A knock on the door jerks them both around, and then Peter's face softens. "Come in, Lily."

The door opens slowly and the young wolf enters, wearing one of her papa's t-shirts, her fingers twisting in the soft cotton that covers her to mid-thigh, her head down. "Please don't argue about me. I'll do better next time. I won't fall apart again, I promise."

Reaching out for her wrist, Stiles reels her down onto his lap, cradling her like a child. "We're not arguing, sweetie. Neither of us want you to fight."

"But, I need to. I mean, I'm an adult werewolf. The Pack's at war. My place is with my Pack and my Alpha."

Stiles shoots Peter a helpless look, and Peter sighs softly.

"If that's what you want..."

"No," Stiles interrupts, then lowers his voice to say again, "No."

Lily stiffens, then slides off his lap and moves into the other chair. "I have to help."

"Okay, then you can help by using your other nature." Her brow furrows exactly like Peter's is doing and Stiles almost smiles at how similar they are in so many ways. "Melissa and Alan only had his abilities as protection, and mountain ash isn't at all useful against bullets. We need them there for medical care. How about next battle you protect them using your magic and, if necessary, your claws. You defend, and...and if you have to kill someone in doing so..."

"Will it make me feel better?"

"...No."

Her face falls and she rubs her hands over her cheeks then stares at them. "I felt like I couldn't scrub all the blood away," she says a bit distantly. "I kept thinking about MacBeth which we just finished reading in English class and that damn spot line and..." Turning her hands over, she holds them up into the light. "There's no blood there, but I can feel it. I can still...taste it."

In an instant Peter's up and around his desk, crouching in front of her to take her hands. "Lily, feeling this way is normal."

"But you don't. Dad doesn't. I didn't even kill anyone and I feel like I'm...I'm...And, God, did you hear Zoe's howl of triumph when she pulled out that guy's heart? I nearly threw up and she was covered in blood and looking like she was going to eat it! Earlier I could hear her, sound asleep in her bed, not a fucking care in the world."

"Lily..." Stiles admonishes softly, but Peter just shakes his head at him.

Tears leak from the girl's wide, red-rimmed eyes and she pulls her hands free to dig them into her hair. "How come she feels nothing and I'm a big mess?"

"Because you and your sister are not the same. You've always had very different personalities. You're a caregiver, a mender, a mediator. Some day you'll make a fantastic Alpha Mate, but you don't even have the temperament to be a Right Hand. You look to Angelina as your role model and that's a wonderful thing, because she's loving and sweet tempered and wants to help everyone. A Pack needs someone like that, but a Pack also needs someone like Zoe." His eyes are troubled, though, and Stiles swallows hard because he knows now what's coming.

"I...both of us, we've been avoiding the direction her wolf has taken her," Peter continues, his eyes meeting Stiles' for a moment. "What those hunters did to her when they captured her didn't break her. It hardened her."

"Peter...No..."

"She's like you."

Both men stare at each other until Stiles breaks it, dropping his head in defeat to whisper, "I didn't want that for any of our cubs."

"I don't understand."

At his daughter's confusion, Peter stands to lean back against his desk, arms crossed over his chest, because he hasn't wanted to face this either. "The leadership of most stable Packs consists of four people. I'm the Alpha, Derek's my Right Hand, and Stiles is our Emissary. Together, the triad is the public face of the Pack, while the fourth is rarely spoken of or acknowledged."

"I know what it is. I've heard whispers," Lily says softly, nibbling on her lower lip. "The Left Hand. But...we don't have one." 

It's Stiles who answers hers, his voice sorrowful but strong. "We do. Sometimes, the Left Hand holds another position as well. In our Pack, it's me."

Turning her head, Lily stares at him in shock. "But..." Confused, she shakes her head. "No, you can't be."

"Why not?"

"Because...because, the Left Hand is a killer!" The look he gives her makes her widen her eyes even more in realization. "You do anything to protect the Pack. You clean up the messes. You...keep us all safe. Daddy..."

"I do. I always will. It's a role I kind of fell into and, no, we don't talk about it. My father doesn't know, though he may suspect. Outside our Pack, I doubt Scott even knows, though Kira does. She's his Left Hand, after all."

"Okay...okay...I think I'm going to need time to digest all that, but are you saying that Zoe is a future Left Hand?"

"Or Alpha," Peter replies. "I, for one, would prefer that for her, but it's in her nature to protect us any way she can."

"I'll do anything to protect the Pack," Zoe says from the open doorway, making them all jerk around in surprise.

"She's also very sneaky," Lily mutters, sounding like herself for the first time since before the battle.

"I've been listening," Zoe admits without compunction as she moves to stand by her Alpha, sinking against him when he wraps one arm around her and nuzzles the top of her head. "I killed that guy today without a thought and I don't feel bad about it. I don't think that's wrong either."

"Zoe," Stiles chides softly. "You do understand why Lily is upset, right?"

"Sure." She shrugs, her eyes going from Stiles to Lily and back again. "We're very different people. I'm the kind of person you need in a war, though. You're right to have Lily guard grandma and Dr. Deaton. She's much better at magic than I'll ever be." Her eyes lock onto Stiles'. "You argued with Lily about her fighting? Why didn't you argue with me? I'm only fourteen. Technically I shouldn't have been there at all. In our Pack, sixteen is mature. I'm still a cub."

"Technically," Stiles murmurs, frowning. "In reality, your wolf becomes mature at your first change."

"Yeah."

"And...I didn't argue with you because..." He shoots a helpless look at Peter.

"It's okay, dad, I heard you guys, remember? I knew even before all of this that I could kill someone and, if they deserved it, if they were threatening or hurting any of you, it wouldn't bother me one bit." Lily's whimper makes Zoe shrug again. "You're the Left Hand, dad, and you're the Alpha, papa, and I'm both of yours daughter."

"I'm their daughter, too."

"Well, yeah. They're more than Left Hand and Alpha. You got other traits from them, duh."

"Yeah, their good looks for one thing. You sure didn't get that."

With a bark of laughter, Zoe pulls away from Peter and reaches down to tug Lily up into a tight hug. "Come on, we'll curl up in my bed together and I'll keep the nightmares away."

Lily hugs her back, then goes to embrace each of her fathers, murmuring good night, before leaving the room. Moving to stand next to his mate, Stiles eyes his younger daughter as she gives Lily's back a wistful look, before she turns it on the two men.

"I wish I could give her back her innocence." For that to come from a fourteen year old girl...Stiles' heart nearly breaks and he reaches towards her, but she shies away.

She's been shying away for over a month.

"Zoe, please, what did they do to you?" he whispers, begs.

"Like you said, dad," is her softly spoken reply. "They hardened me, and I learned that I can never let myself be a victim again. I...I love you both so much."

"We love you, too, Zoe," Peter says firmly as Stiles bites at his lip and desperately wants to hold her.

But, she hasn't let either of them hold her since they rescued her.

Her chin goes up and she nods at them. "I'm okay, and I'll make sure Lily's okay." When she leaves, she closes the door behind her.

His heart breaking, Stiles nearly falls, only to be caught by Peter, dragged into his arms. Their ragged breaths mingle, their hands fist into each others shirts, and they press their foreheads together and try to find some kind of equilibrium.

"She thinks she's fine," Stiles finally says, his voice rough, broken. "She's not, Peter."

"No, she's not, but she won't let us help her. Maybe Lily can."

"I hate this. I want to kill each and every hunter with my own hands. I want to wrap her in bubble wrap and never let her leave my side. I want...I want her innocence back," he cries softly, and Peter's arms tighten, but he doesn't say anything.

There's nothing to say. He agrees one hundred percent and, yet, there's nothing he can do either. In the face of his daughters' pain, he feels helpless and he hates it.

They all bear unhealing wounds, stains on their hearts and souls.

But, then, every single person in the world does, and they can't protect any of their cubs from being human.

End

**Author's Note:**

> I finally developed a [time line](http://ladyoneill.livejournal.com/1278628.html). It's at my livejournal, open to all. I did have to shift a couple fics and I'll need to rewrite the Valentine's Day one. I assumed the eclipse was at the beginning of November 2012 but it was at the end so Stiles' doesn't move in with Peter until the end of February. Pretty much everything else fit right. I also named all the kids and gave everyone birth dates. I'll update the time line with anything big.


End file.
